Variable bandwidth communication systems and methods

ABSTRACT

A variable bandwidth communication system includes a first communication station and a second communication station coupled to the first communication station for continuous, by directional communication. The first communication station is capable of transmitting at a first bandwidth and a second bandwidth greater than the first bandwidth, and is capable of receiving at a third bandwidth and a fourth bandwidth greater than the third bandwidth. The transmitting bandwidth of the first communication station is selectable by first user. The second communication station is capable of receiving at the first bandwidth and at the second bandwidth and is capable at transmitting at the third bandwidth and the fourth bandwidth. Again, the transmitting bandwidth of the second communication station is selectable by the second user. Preferably, but not necessarily, the first bandwidth and the third bandwidth are about the same, and the second bandwidth and the fourth bandwidth are about the same. The first communication system is capable of displaying communication received at the fourth bandwidth at a first lower bandwidth display level, and the second communication system is capable of displaying communications received at the second bandwidth at a second lower bandwidth display level. In this fashion, two or more users can interact at a variety of threshold levels dependent upon the user&#39;s desires for privacy and/or high bandwidth communications.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This Application is related to and claims the benefit of U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 60/062,144 filed Oct. 9, 1997,incorporated herein by reference. This Application is also related toand claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.60/103,814 entitled METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR REMOTE SOCIAL INTERACTIONSfiled Oct. 8, 1998, incorporated herein by reference. This Applicationis also related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. (a) 09/169,750entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SENDING AND RECEIVING LIGHTWEIGHTMESSAGES filed Oct. 9, 1998, (b) Ser. No. 09/169,839 entitled METHOD ANDAPPARATUS FOR SENDING PRESENCE MESSAGES filed Oct. 9, 1998, and (c) Ser.No. 09/169,638 entitled ELECTRONIC AUDIO CONNECTION SYSTEM AND METHODSFOR PROVIDING SAME filed Oct. 9, 1998, all three being incorporatedherein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to communication systems, and moreparticularly to electronic communication systems having variablebandwidths for continuously and bi-directionally linking two or moregeographically separated spaces for remote social interaction.

2. Description of the Related Art

People use between-household communication primarily for social reasons:to keep in touch with and coordinate joint activities with a limitednumber of friends and family. Households are currently linked to oneanother primarily by telephones and by telephone-extension devices suchas answering machines. Other technologies (e.g., the postal service,email, fax), are used on a more limited basis.

Such ongoing contact with significant others is a fundamental humanneed, and one that current household technologies meet in a less thanoptimal way. First, there is no technological support for a household tohave continuous background awareness of distant households that it caresabout, in the way that it has some ongoing awareness of physicallyneighboring households (e.g., by noticing a car is in the driveway, alighted window, or muffled sounds of a conversation). Such awarenesswould allow conversations to take place opportunistically that currentlydo not take place, and might allow certain currently unwantedconversations to be avoided if such background awareness was sufficientfor feeling “in touch.”

In addition, the telephone (currently the primary technological supportfor remote conversations) embodies a model for initiating anddisengaging from social interaction that is rarely found in everydaylife. Disregarding for the moment non-basic elements such as busysignals, answering machines, caller-ID, etc., the telephone providesthree states: disconnected, ringing, and connected. The model of socialinteraction created is akin to that created by a windowless room with aclosed, locked, and soundproof door. Callers are forced to initiateinteraction by knocking (ringing), without any advance indication of thecallee's situation within. Similarly, the callee is forced to decidewhether to unlock and open the door with very limited information (evenmore limited in the telephone case, as ringing cannot be varied as canknocking). Once unlocked and thrown open, the conversational partnersconfront each other at close range, with little ability to adjust socialdistance to a mutually desired level. Conversations end, with littlesubtlety or room for re-engagement, by shutting the door and returningto an entirely disengaged state. People have adapted to such anunnatural model remarkably well, but a technology that offers a moreflexible and subtle model of gradual, foreshadowed, andmutually-negotiated approach would be highly desirable.

There is presently a lack of devices which simply relay informationconcerning the presence of individuals at remote locations for socialpurposes. Functionally, the closest analog to a social presence deviceis the real-world situation of living next door to a neighboring house.In such a situation, one can notice various things about the neighbor'shouse (and patterns in the neighbors activity) that would allow one toinitiate a conversation at an opportune time, if one so wished.

Baby monitors, both audio and now video, are one of the few, if not theonly, awareness technologies on the market. In the CSCW (ComputerSupported Cooperative Work) research world, Montage from SunMicrosystems implements a kind of “video glancing” that allows messagesto be left if “glancing” reveals the recipient to be unavailable.

The term “media space” refers to the linking of a number physicallyseparated spaces to create a larger “virtual space” for communicationbetween various individuals. Researchers have noticed that it is verydifficult to document an objective gain from use of media spaces inworkplaces, but also that the users nevertheless were unanimous aboutthe usefulness of these systems. A stated advantage is the socialawareness that is provided and which may be conducive to deciding whendirect communication would be appropriate. The awareness issue issometimes referred to as the support for background communication, seefor instance William Buxton's GI (Graphical Interface) '95-paper aboutforeground and background.

A problem with media space is that it is typically a high-bandwidthmedium, which creates serious privacy issues. The “Porthole System” fromRank Xerox EuroParc partially addresses this problem by sacrificingimage quality in order to obtain a continued sense of presence withoutproviding real-time imagery. However, their choice was to lower theframe rate while keeping the image resolution high. Avatar design andresearch provides abstraction and synthesization to reduce the privacyissue.

Technologies that allow a communicating party to refuse a connectionattempt without having to give an explicit refusal of access include:caller ID, call screening through answering machines; mirror windows,door spies. However, these technologies provide this featureunilaterally, namely to the callee only. Other technologies that allow acommunicating party to “prepare” for the communication: media spacesystems that convey room images.

What the related art does not suggest, however, are classes oftechnologies of varying bandwidths that permit remote socialinteractions at different threshold levels for a variety of purposes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a remote communication system capable ofcommunicating at various bandwidths. By “bandwidth” it is meant theamount of information that must be transmitted, received, stored, ordisplayed within a given period of time. Users of the system can use a“negotiation” process to determine the bandwidth of the transmittedcommunications and the bandwidth, or intrusiveness, of the resultantdisplay.

A variable bandwidth communication system of the present inventionincludes a first communication station and a second communicationstation coupled to the first communication station for continuous,bi-directional communication with the first communication station. Thefirst communication station is capable of transmitting at a firstbandwidth and a second bandwidth that is greater than the firstbandwidth, and is capable of receiving at a third bandwidth and a fourthbandwidth greater than the third bandwidth. The transmitting bandwidthof the first communication station is selectable by a first user. Thesecond communication system is capable of receiving at a first bandwidthand at the second bandwidth, and is capable of transmitting at the thirdbandwidth and the fourth bandwidth. The transmitting bandwidth of thesecond communication station is selected by a second user. Preferably,but not necessarily, the first bandwidth and the third bandwidth areabout the same, and the second bandwidth and the fourth bandwidth areabout the same. Often, the second bandwidth is at least two orders ofmagnitude greater than the first bandwidth.

A method for variable bandwidth communication in accordance with thepresent invention includes selectively and continuously transmittingcommunications from a first communication station at one of a firstbandwidth and second bandwidth, and continuously receivingcommunications at the first communication station at one of a thirdbandwidth and a fourth bandwidth. A method further includes selectivelyand continuously transmitting communications from a second communicationstation at one of the third bandwidth and the fourth bandwidth, andcontinuously receiving communications at one of the first and secondbandwidth. The second bandwidth is greater than the first bandwidth, andthe fourth bandwidth is greater than the third bandwidth. Preferably,but not necessarily, the first bandwidth and third bandwidth are aboutthe same and the second bandwidth and the fourth bandwidth are about thesame.

A communication station in accordance with the present inventionincludes a data processor, a high-bandwidth input device coupled to thedata processor, a transmission port coupled to the data processor, areception port coupled to the data processor, a high/low transmissionbandwidth selector coupled to the data processor, and a high/low displaybandwidth selector coupled to the data processor. The communicationstation further preferably includes a dynamic abstraction filter forconverting high bandwidth communications (e.g. streaming video) into lowbandwidth communications.

The advantage of the present invention is that a continuouscommunication between two remote sites can be maintained at variousbandwidths. For example, a user of that particular site may decide thatit only wishes to transmit or receive high threshold (low bandwidth)presence type information in order to be only minimally disturbed.Alternatively, a high bandwidth communication, such as real-time video,can be provided between two remote sites based upon a mutual consent ofusers at those two remote sites.

These and other advantages of the present invention will become apparentto those skilled in the art upon a reading of the following descriptionsof the invention and a study of the several figures of the drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a variable bandwidth communication system inaccordance with embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a communication station FIG. 1;

FIG. 3A is a state diagram illustrating a “send” process implemented onthe data processor of FIG. 2;

FIG. 3B is a flow diagram illustrating a process for receivingcommunications which is implemented on the data processor of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating the use of a dynamic abstractionfilter to convert a high bandwidth communication to a low bandwidthcommunication or display;

FIG. 5 is a chart illustrating various types of low bandwidth outputsassociated with various types of high bandwidth inputs;

FIG. 6 is an illustration of another embodiment of a variable bandwidthcommunication system in accordance with the present invention;

FIGS. 6A-6C illustrate three different modes or thresholds used in thesystem of FIG. 6;

FIG. 6D is a chart illustrating the relationship between the curtainposition, the shade position, and the receivers message with regards tothe system of FIGS. 6 and 6A-6C;

FIG. 7 is a variable bandwidth communication system illustrating threeor more communication stations coupled together by a network;

FIG. 7A is a state diagram illustrating the ability of a receiver toswitch between various bandwidth displays when receiving a highbandwidth signal.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention includes a range of appliances that can providecommunications of various bandwidths from lightweight to heavy-dutybetween homes to permit various forms of remote social interactions. By“bandwidth” it is often meant the amount of data required for thecommunication process in a given period of time (e.g. bits/second ofdata). It should be noted that a low bandwidth transmission could send afew bits, bytes, or packets at a very fast rate, and then have a longpause before the next “burst” of transmission. Therefore, the magnitudeof the bandwidth is a time-averaged function including both the numberof bits per second that can be sent and the “duty cycle” of thetransmission, i.e. how much of the transmission time includes noinformation. In an even broader sense, “bandwidth” refers to theintelligible information content of the communication. Typically, thelower the intelligible information content, the lower the number ofaverage bits/second are required. However, in some instances, a “lowbandwidth” communication could have about the same or even higheraverage bits/second than a “high bandwidth” communication. For example,a filtered video and/or audio communication would have a lowerintelligible information content, and therefore would be “lowerbandwidth”, than a full video and/or audio communication, even thoughthe filtered video and/or audio communication may take as many or moreaverage bits/second to transmit or display. By “communication” or“communication process” it is meant the transmission, reception,storage, or display of information.

Many of the embodiments described herein can be either a dedicatedappliance or software running on a general purpose computer (PC),network PC, or network computer (sometimes referred to as an “Internetterminal”). General concepts linking various embodiments of the presentinvention are set forth below.

General Concepts

It is desirable to design the various embodiments of the presentinvention so that they fit seamlessly into household activities. It isthis which influences thinking about them as ‘appliances’ rather than ascomputers, although they typically incorporate microprocessors, memory,and I/O, as do general purpose computers.

Another aspect of the present invention is the concept of “thresholds.”The “threshold” of an appliance is inversely related to the bandwidth ofthe communication, and determines the character and quantity of thesocial communication. For example, presence information requires verylittle bandwidth and has a high “threshold.”

Embodiments of the present invention employ a system of abstractrepresentations that convey pertinent presence and mode informationwithout revealing information that may be perceived to be too personal.The system is intended to augment or replace general media spacesystems, i.e., systems that support high bandwidth communication betweenremote sites.

The present invention therefore balances two conflicting goals: on oneside the desire to be connected with and be knowledgeable aboutactivities in a remote place, and on the other side the wish to preservepersonal integrity and maintain private lives.

The common solution found in the appliances of the present invention isto allow the display of abstract representations of activity in a lowbandwidth mode as a way to provide “low-impact” insight into activitiesat a remote site. An additional benefit of the present invention is agenerally low average bandwidth requirements (i.e. the average of thelow bandwidth mode to the high bandwidth mode is low) in settings thathave continuous or almost continuous connectivity. One preferredapproach of the present invention is keep the frame rate at standardtransmission rates but cut the resolution dramatically, e.g. by“cartoonizing” or “tooning” by several orders of magnitude (beforecompression) and in abstraction by replacing a full frame with a fewintegers.

The problem solved by the present invention is to provide enoughinformation for remote parties to get a “sufficient” sense of what isgoing on without giving away “too much.” By a negotiation processbetween the sender and receiver, the communication can range betweenhigh bandwidth (e.g. video or high fidelity audio) communications andlow bandwidth communications.

Media space technology can be augmented with a threshold model of thepresent invention and thereby solve some pertinent problems intechnology mediated communication. The transition between beingunconnected and being connected is very abrupt in existing technology.Take for instance the telephone, where the callee gets a sudden andurgent signal even if the call may have been in preparation for longtime (a view to the calling site might have “warned” that a call wasunder way). The threshold model of the present invention provides amethodology for ongoing connectivity and, contrary to traditional mediaspaces, it does so without sacrificing reasonable wants for privacy,simply by allowing connectivity on less “invasive” levels than fullmedia flow. Further, the transition between being unconnected and beingconnected is binary in existing telephony: there is no graceful way fora callee to indicate that an interruption might be inappropriate at thisvery time. The present threshold model provides means for gradualapproach (and withdrawal for that matter) that will allow users to applya richer and less strict negotiation pattern. The model of the presentinvention mimics some characteristics of immediate social interaction,in particular discrete thresholds, plateaus between thresholds, tolinger on for a while, and multiple consecutive thresholds.

A useful thresholding scheme of the present invention is:

TABLE 1 Threshold plateau = representation Lowest Unlimited degraded'tooned media (thresholded video and “mumbler” audio) recreated Avataranimation - with dynamics based on extracted sensor data synthetic Pureabstract animation - with dynamics based on sensor data binary Binaryconnectivity info (any connection at all?) highest No connection

Different people may prefer different combinations of representation:some may want both audio and visual output while others may want to banone of these entirely. Each plateau specifies a certain representationof a site. It can be represented either directly by video, audio andother sensor data; or it can be remapped or synthesized (in relation tothe original source of this information).

SPECIFIC EXAMPLES

A variable bandwidth communication system 10 in accordance with thepresent invention includes a first communication station 12 and a secondcommunication station 14. The first communication station is capable oftransmitting at at least two bandwidths. That is, the firstcommunication station is capable at transmitting at least a firstbandwidth and a second bandwidth, where the second bandwidth is greaterthan the first bandwidth. Again, by “bandwidth” it is meant a requireddata rate (e.g. bits per second) required for the transmission,reception, storage, display, etc. of the communication. The secondcommunication station 14 is coupled to the first communication station12 as indicated at 16 for continuous, bi-directional communication withthe first communication station. The second communication station 14 iscapable of receiving at the first bandwidth and at the second bandwidth,is capable of transmitting at the third bandwidth and at the fourthbandwidth. Preferably, but not necessarily, the first bandwidth and thethird bandwidth are about the same, and the second bandwidth and thefourth bandwidth are about the same.

A communication coupling 16 can be accomplished in a variety offashions. For example, the coupling (or “connection”, “data link”,“transmission medium”, etc.) 16 can be by wire (e.g. twisted pair wire),by cable, by fiber optic, by radio or infrared (IR) transmission andreception, by a local area network (LAN), by a wide area network (WAN),by the Internet, etc. The essential feature of the connection 16 as awhole is that it must be bi-directional and capable of transmitting atboth high and low bandwidths. In some embodiments of the presentinvention, this is accomplished by a single transmission medium, and inother embodiments of the present invention this is accomplished by aplurality of transmission mediums, e.g. a high bandwidth transmissionmedium and a low bandwidth transmission medium. Also, in otherembodiments of the present invention the coupling 16 may include anumber of simplex (“one way”) transmission media, e.g. one or moresimplex transmission media extending from communication station 12 tocommunication station 14, and one or more simplex transmission mediaextending from communication station 14 to communication station 12 asopposed to a duplex (“two way”) transmission medium.

The present invention can include unintentional presence capabilities.That is, a sensor forming a part of a communication station canautomatically sense the presence or absence of a user, and automaticallytransmit this presence information to one or more other communicationstations. Preferably, this unintentional presence capability can bedisabled by the user of the communication station if a higher level ofprivacy is desired.

In the embodiment of FIG. 1, communication station 12 includes a monitoror display 18 having a screen 20 and a camera 22 having a lens 24 and amicrophone 25. Likewise, second communication station 14 includes amonitor or display 26 having a screen 28 and a camera 30 having a lens32 and a microphone 33. It should be noted that the term “video” as usedherein often, but not necessarily, also includes an accompanying “audio”component as detected, for example, by the microphone 25 and 33,respectively. While the first communication station 12 and the secondcommunication 14 of this example are the same type of station, it shouldbe noted that communication stations of different types can be usedtogether to form part of a variable bandwidth communication system 10.Furthermore, while this example shows communication between twostations, it should be noted the principles of this invention can beextended to three or more stations as well, as will be discussed ingreater detail subsequently.

The variable bandwidth communication system 12 further includes a switch34 to vary the transmission bandwidth of the system 12, and a switch 36to vary the display bandwidth of the monitor 18. Again, by “displaybandwidth” is not meant to necessarily indicate the amount ofinformation sent to the display but, rather, the time-varying amount ofinformation that is presented by the display. That is, a high displaybandwidth is required for a low viewer threshold, while only a lowdisplay bandwidth is needed for a high view threshold.

While these user-selectable controls are illustrated and described asswitches on the camera 22 and monitor 18, respectively, it should benoted that a variety of user input mechanisms can be used. For example,the communication station 12 can form a part of a computer systemwherein a mouse or other pointer can be used to actuate on-screen“buttons” to perform the equivalent functions of switches 34 and 36.Other equivalent input mechanisms are well known to those skilled in theart.

The second communication station 14 likewise includes a button or switch38 to control the transmission bandwidth and a button or switch 40 tocontrol the display bandwidth on the screen 28 of monitor 26. The samecomments as far as other equivalents for switches 38 and 40 as were madewith respect to first communication system 12 also applied to thissecond communication system 14.

Displayed on the screen 20 of communication station 12 is a video image42 of the head of the user of the second communication station 14. Thishigh bandwidth, low threshold display on screen 20 indicates that theuser of communication station 14 has selected a high bandwidthtransmission option with his user selector switch 38, and that the userof the first communication station 12 has selected a high bandwidthdisplay option with his switch 36. The two users have therefore“negotiated” the display on the screen 20 of the first communicationstation 12 in that the sender has indicated that he wishes to send highbandwidth, real-time video from his camera 30 to the station 12, andthat the receiver is willing to view this high bandwidth display.

In contrast, a low bandwidth image 44 is displayed on the screen 28 ofthe second communication station 14. This can be the result of any of atleast three types of negotiation. In a first negotiation, the user ofthe first communication station 12 has moved the switch 34 to lowbandwidth mode and the switch 38 of the second communication 14 is alsoin the low bandwidth mode as set by a second user. Alternatively, theswitch 40 of second communication station 14 could be in the highbandwidth display mode, and still the image 44 on the screen would be inthe low bandwidth mode since that is all that is being transmitted fromthe communication 12. Thirdly, the switch 34 of communication station 12can be in a high bandwidth mode and the switch 40 of the communicationstation 14 can be in a low bandwidth thereby displaying a low bandwidthimage 44 even though a high bandwidth image has been received over thecommunication link 16.

In FIG. 2, a first communication station 12 is illustrated in blockdiagram form. As discussed previously, this block diagram can also applyto the second communication station 14. Central to the communicationstation 12 is a data processor 46. Physically, this data processor canbe positioned in any suitable enclosure such as the monitor 18enclosure, the camera 22 enclosure, or a separate enclosure (not shownin FIG. 1). In some embodiments of the present invention the dataprocessor 46 may be a personal computer system or a computer workstation(not shown). Alternatively, the data processor can be a dedicated,microprocessor based system.

The data processor 46 has, as inputs, the switches 34 and 36, and a highbandwidth input device such as camera 22. The data processor further hasan input port 48 and output port 50, and is connected to the monitor 18.Communication from a remote unit, such as the second communicationstation 14, is input into the input port 48 and a communication outputto the remote unit, such as communication station 14, is provided outputport 50. The output communication to the remote unit can be high or lowbandwidth data, as described previously.

In FIG. 3A, a transmitting process 52 operating on the data processor 46of FIG. 2 is illustrated. Essentially, the transmitting process 52 isone of two states, namely a “send low bandwidth version” state 54 and a“send high bandwidth version” state 56. If the process 52 is in state54, a sender's command 58 to increase bandwidth causes the process 52 toenter state 56. If the process 52 is in state 56, a sender's command 60to decrease bandwidth causes the process 52 to enter state 54.

In the examples of FIGS. 1 and 2, the “sender commands” are determinedby the switch state (“position”) of the switch 34 on the camera 22. Thatis, when the switch 34 is in a first position the sender is commandingan increase in bandwidth, and when the switch is in a second positionthe sender is commanding a decrease in bandwidth. Of course, there aremany equivalent methods and apparatus for entering sender commands intoa first communication station 12, as noted previously.

As will be apparent by a study of FIGS. 2 and 3A, while the input to thedata processor 46 is always high bandwidth from the high bandwidth inputdevice 22, the output on output port 50 can either be a high bandwidthversion or a low bandwidth version. Preferably, the low bandwidthversion of the communication is derived from the high bandwidth version.That is, the high bandwidth version is converted by an appropriateprocess or “filter” to a low bandwidth version which still communicatessome of the information that was present within the high bandwidthversion. This process will be discussed in greater detail subsequently.

In FIG. 3B receiving process 62 implemented on the data processor 46 ofFIG. 2 is illustrated in flow diagram form. The process 62 begins at 64and, in an operation 66, it is determined whether the firstcommunication station 12 is receiving high bandwidth communication. Ifit is, an operation 68 determines whether the receiver is requestinghigh bandwidth reception. In the example of FIGS. 1 and 2, this isdetermined by the position of the switch 36 as set by the receiver. Ifthe receiver is requesting high bandwidth, then a high bandwidth imageis displayed on the monitor 18. Process control then returns tooperation 66.

If operation 66 determines that it is not receiving high bandwidthcommunications on the port 48, then operation 72 determines whether itis receiving low bandwidth communication. It is determined that thecommunication station 12 is receiving neither high bandwidth nor lowbandwidth communication, process control is returned to operation 66. Inthat instance, no communication is being received at all and the process62 simply waits for some form of communication. If operation 72determines that there is low bandwidth communication on the input port48, the low bandwidth communication is displayed in an operation 74, andprocess control is returned to operation 66.

Finally, if operations 66 and 68 determine that the communication 12 isreceiving high bandwidth communication and that the receiver requestslow bandwidth, an operation 76 converts the high bandwidth communicationto a low bandwidth communication. Operation 74 then displays theconverted low bandwidth communication, and process control is returnedto operation 66.

It should be noted that in an alternate embodiment of the presentinvention high bandwidth transmissions could always be made by atransmitting station, as long as the high bandwidth transmission isaccompanied by an indication of the sender as to whether the actualdisplay should be high bandwidth or low bandwidth. That is, the lowbandwidth conversion could always be generated at the receivingcommunication station. However, such an embodiment has severaldisadvantages. For one, the communication channel 16 must be of a highaverage bandwidth, which typically increases the cost of the system.Furthermore, the sender of the high bandwidth communication must trustthe receiver to respect his wishes as to having a low bandwidth display.For the foregoing reasons, it is desirable that the sendingcommunication station be capable of creating the low bandwidth versionof the communication for transmission to the receiving communicationstation.

A process 78 for converting high bandwidth data to low bandwidth data isillustrated in FIG. 4. The process 78 begins with high bandwidth data 80which is then passed through a dynamic abstraction filter 82 to resultin low bandwidth data 84. This process 78 is accomplished within theoperation 54 of sending the low bandwidth version in FIG. 3A, and withinthe operation 76 of turning the high bandwidth to a low bandwidthcommunication in FIG. 3B. There are a variety of models and techniquesfor creating a dynamic abstraction filter 82, as will be discussedsubsequently.

In FIG. 5, a table 86 lists high bandwidth input types with lowbandwidth output examples. The dynamic abstraction filter 82 of FIG. 4is used to convert the high bandwidth input type to the low bandwidthoutput types. By “dynamic” it is meant that changes in a high bandwidthcommunication are reflected in changes in the low bandwidthcommunication. For example, movement of an object in a high bandwidthvideo communication can be reflected in a change in the low bandwidthcommunication, e.g. by showing movement of a simpler object, changing acolor of the display screen, etc. As another example, changes in volumeof a high bandwidth audio signal may be reflected in the low bandwidthrepresentation. By “abstraction” it is meant that certain features of ahigh bandwidth signal are represented in an abstract fashion in the lowbandwidth output signal.

In FIG. 5, one form of high bandwidth input type is video. Examples oflow bandwidth output types include cartooned (or “tooned”) video,reduced resolution video, and audio output. With a ‘tooned video, asimplified, abstract, yet dynamic representation of a video object iscreated in a cartoon-like fashion. An example is shown in image 44 ofFIG. 1. In this instance, the camera 22 of the first communicationstation 12 captures the image of the sender, and passes the imagethrough the dynamic abstraction filter of FIG. 4 to create therepresentational image 44. The representational image 44 is lowbandwidth in that it takes relatively few bits per second to transmitany dynamic updates to the image 44 from the first communication station12. That is, as the sender of first communication station 12 moves orchanges his facial expression, the dynamic abstraction filter 82 causes,on a periodic basis, the image 44 to dynamically change.

With reduced resolution video, the high bandwidth input video isdegraded to reduce the bandwidth transmission requirements of thedegraded video frame. It is preferred that this degradation reduces theresolution of the pixel components of the video frame, rather thanchanging the frame rate of the video, as has occurred in the prior art.This is because of the reduction of the frame rate of video results in ajerky and somewhat annoying output for the video, while the resolutiondegradation of the prior art provides a smooth, yet dynamicallyabstracted version of the original high bandwidth of the video.

As a third example, the high bandwidth video input can be converted intoa lower bandwidth audio output. The audio output itself can actually beof quite good fidelity, while still being much lower in bandwidth thanthe high bandwidth communication. This, therefore, is an example thatillustrates that “high bandwidth” and “low bandwidth” can be relativerather than absolute terms. Generally speaking, the difference between ahigh bandwidth signal and a low bandwidth signal is intended to be atleast two orders of magnitudes, although sometimes it may be six ordersof magnitudes in difference or more. In this example, the audio outputcan include such characteristics as type, volume, pitch, etc. Thedynamic abstraction filter 82 will analyze various components of highbandwidth video such as movement, brightness, number of objects in theframe, etc. and to dynamically abstract these features into the lowerbandwidth audio output.

As another example, audio may be considered the high bandwidth inputtype relative to a relatively low bandwidth output type. For example,the audio can be relatively high fidelity audio signal, while the lowbandwidth output types can be a degraded audio signal. For example, anotch filter can be used to remove high and low frequencies from thehigh bandwidth audio input signal to create a degraded (butrecognizable), low bandwidth audio output signal. Further, the highbandwidth audio signal can be degraded to such an extent that the lowbandwidth audio output signal is unintelligible, but still conveys theimpressions of loudness, tone, etc.

Alternatively, the high bandwidth input type can be converted to a lowbandwidth output signal which provides haptic feedback to a receiver ata second communication station 14. For example, a receiver of the lowbandwidth haptic signal may grasp a forced-feedback device such as ajoystick at his communication station, and receive haptic feedback whichis related to the high bandwidth audio generated at anothercommunication station. As a more specific example, low frequencies ofthe high bandwidth audio as generated at a first communication station12 can be converted into a rumbling feeling at a force feedback joystickat a second communication station that is remotely located with respectto the first communication station.

A yet third example of high bandwidth types is any high bandwidth inputtype, including video, audio, or combinations of the two which can beconverted by the dynamic abstraction filter 82 to some form of abstractrepresentation. For example, an object in a high bandwidth communicationcan be represented by a bouncing ball at a remote communication station.As the object in the video moves more quickly, the bouncing ball canmove more quickly. Further, as a new object enters the video screen anadditional bouncing ball can be added. Likewise, the bouncing balls canrepresent volume, pitch, etc. of a high bandwidth audio input at aremote communication station. Alternatively or additionally, thechanging of the screen color of the remote communication station canrepresent changes in the high bandwidth video or audio at the sendingcommunication station. Of course, the foregoing examples are simply afew examples of many possible high bandwidth/low bandwidth dynamicabstractions that are possible within the inventive scope of the presentinvention.

In FIG. 6, a variable bandwidth communication system 88 includes a firstcommunication station 90, a second communication station 92, a firstspeaker phone 94, a second speaker phone 96, and a network system 98coupling the first communication 90 to the second communication station92, and the telephone system 100 coupling the first speaker 94 to thesecond speaker phone 96. The first communication station 90 preferablyincludes a personal computer 102, a monitor 104, a video camera 106, aninput device such as a mouse 108. Likewise, the second communicationstation 92 preferably includes a computer 110, a monitor 112, a videocamera 114, and a video input device such as a mouse 116. The networksystem 98 may be a local area network, or a wide area network such asthe internet. The speaker phones 94 and 96 are coupled to and arecontrolled by computers 102 and 110, and are preferably of conventionaldesign and utilize standard telephone system 100. Monitors 104 and 112include screens 118 and 120, respectively. Depicted on these screens arevarious images as will be discussed subsequently. The images may beselected by a number of input devices including pointer-type inputdevices such as the mice 108 and 116.

FIGS. 6A-6C illustrates three screen representations which communicatesthe receivers desire to communicate with remote communication stationsand what bandwidth of communications the receiver desires. In FIG. 6A,the depiction of closed curtains 122 coupled with a drawn shade 124illustrates no desire to communicate while the open curtain 122 withdrawn shade 124 of FIG. 6B illustrates that the receiver would like a“presence” type display, i.e. to simply know if there is a personpresent at a remote communication station. Finally, the depiction ofFIG. 6C with an open curtain 122 and an open shade 124 illustrates thedesire for high bandwidth communication.

With additional reference to the table 126 of FIG. 6D, therepresentations of FIGS. 6A-6C allow three different “thresholds” ofreception at a communication station. The higher the threshold, thelower the bandwidth requirement. For example, when the curtain and shadeare closed as illustrated in FIG. 6A, the message to remote sender isthat the receiver has no desire to communicate. This “high threshold”message requires very little bandwidth being communicated back and forthbetween the communication station. When the curtain is open and theshade is closed as in FIG. 6B this “intermediate threshold” conditionindicates that the receiver would like to have a presence display and nomore from a remote sender communication station. Such a presence displaymay be an illumination of the shade 124 when a remote sender is presentat the communication station, and a darkened shade 124 when the remotesender is not present at his communication station. Such a presencedisplay still requires a very low bandwidth connection between the twocommunication stations. However, when the curtain 122 and shade 124 areopen the receiver is requesting full video and audio display on thescreen. This is illustrated by the image 128 in FIG. 6C. This, ofcourse, requires a high bandwidth connection or connections capable ofsupporting full video and audio between the two communication stations.In the example of FIG. 6, full video and audio display is accomplishedby transferring video over the network system 98, and audio over thetelephone system 100. It will therefore be apparent in high bandwidthcommunications, in particular, multiple communication channels may beused.

While the variable communication system of the present invention hasbeen previously described primarily in terms in two communicationstations, is it also applicable to multiple communication stations,particularly when they are linked together by a local area network (LAN)or a wide area network (WAN), such as the Internet. In FIG. 7 a variablebandwidth communication system 130 includes multiple communicationstations 132, 134, 136, etc. which, in this example, are coupled to theInternet 140 via internet connections 142, 144, 146, etc.

Each of the communication stations 132, 134, 136, etc. in this exampleincludes a personal computer 148, a monitor 150, a video 152, and amicrophone 154. Of course, there are other standard components ofcomputer systems that may be part of the communication stations, such askeyboards, mice, network cards, etc. that are not shown in thissimplified figure. By using the processes and apparatus of the presentinvention as was described previously, multiple communication stationscan be in continuous, variable bandwidth, bi-directional communicationwith each other.

FIG. 7A illustrates a process 156 by which a receiver at a communicationstation can select the bandwidth of the display. As used herein,“display” can mean a video display, an audio display, a haptic display,or any other kind of sensory feedback display. By “display bandwidth” itis meant the amount of information per unit of time required to maintainthe display.

In FIG. 7A a receiver communication station may start in a mode 158wherein the screen of a monitor simply displays colors to indicatepresence and lack of presence of individuals at remote communicationstations. This is a high threshold, low bandwidth type display. Thereceiver can then make a selection 160 (e.g. by using a mouse to selecta button on a screen of a monitor) to change the mode to a mode 160which displays presence with a dynamically bounding ball. This is alower threshold, higher bandwidth display which not only indicates thepresence of an individual at another communication station but alsoprovides information about the sender, such as whether he is in motion.The receiver at the communication station can then make a selection 164to convert to a video display mode 166 for a full video display. Thisis, of course, a very low threshold, very high bandwidth type display.The receiver then can make a selection 168 to return to the highthreshold low bandwidth of mode 158.

While this invention has been described with reference to certainpreferred embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the artthat there are many alterations, permutations, equivalents, andadditions within the scope of the present invention. For example, inmultiple communication station environments such as that shown in FIG.7, an embodiment of the present invention displays a plurality ofwindows W which can correspond, one each, with another communicationsystem. Each of these windows can use thresholding and multiplebandwidth bi-directional communication with one of the remotecommunication systems. For example, a number of the windows W can be ina low bandwidth, high threshold mode while, perhaps, one of the windowsW can be in a low threshold, high bandwidth display mode. This wouldallow the user of the communication station to focus his or herattention on the high bandwidth display window (e.g. streaming video)and still have presence or other lower bandwidth type displays (withless distracting, high thresholds) in the other windows.

A further refinement is the addition of “bezels” B around the windows W.These bezels B surround the windows W like a picture frame, but they areactive to present a self-image of the person using the communicationstation as picked up by the camera. Since the user would only see theedges of his image, this self-image is less distracting than if anentire full-face view were presented in a window on the screen. Further,the bezel would allow the user to see how he was being presented toremote users, i.e. whether they were viewing full video, ‘toonedversions of his image, a bouncing ball, etc.

It should be further noted that while many of the embodiments of thepresent invention have been described using computer systems as theenabling technology, that much simpler, dedicated devices are alsosuitable for many situations. For example, by having only an audiodisplay rather than a video display, the cost of the communicationsystem can be much reduced. This would be applicable to a “twitter”embodiment of the present invention, wherein an audio display canprovide different sounds such as birds twittering, water gurgling, etc.

Therefore, while invention has been described in terms of severalpreferred embodiments, it is contemplated that alternatives,modifications, permutations and equivalents thereof will become apparentto those skilled in the art upon a reading of the specification andstudy of the drawings. It is therefore intended that the followingappended claims include all such alternatives, modifications,permutations and equivalents as fall within the true spirit and scope ofthe present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A variable bandwidth communication systemcomprising: a first communication station capable of transmitting at afirst bandwidth and a second bandwidth greater than said firstbandwidth, and capable of receiving at a third bandwidth and a fourthbandwidth greater than said third bandwidth, wherein the transmittingbandwidth of said first communication station is selectable by a firstuser; and a second communication station coupled to said firstcommunication station for continuous, bi-directional communication withsaid first communication station, said second communication stationbeing capable of receiving at said first bandwidth and said secondbandwidth, and capable of transmitting at said third bandwidth and afourth bandwidth, wherein the transmitting bandwidth of said secondcommunication station is selectable by a second user.
 2. A variablebandwidth communication system as recited in claim 1 wherein said firstbandwidth and said third bandwidth are about the same, and wherein saidsecond bandwidth and said fourth bandwidth are about the same.
 3. Avariable bandwidth communication system as recited in claim 2 whereinsaid second bandwidth is at least two orders of magnitude greater thansaid first bandwidth.
 4. A variable bandwidth communication system asrecited in claim 3 wherein said first communication system is capable ofdisplaying communications received at said fourth bandwidth at a firstlower bandwidth display level.
 5. A variable bandwidth communicationsystem as recited in claim 4 wherein said lower bandwidth display levelis at about said third bandwidth.
 6. A variable bandwidth communicationsystem as recited in claim 5 wherein said second communication system iscapable of displaying communications received at said second bandwidthat a second lower bandwidth display level.
 7. A variable bandwidthcommunication system as recited in claim 6 wherein said second lowerbandwidth display level is at about said first bandwidth.
 8. A variablebandwidth communication system as recited in claim 7 wherein said secondbandwidth is capable of transmitting video communications.
 9. A variablebandwidth communication system as recited in claim 8 wherein said firstbandwidth is capable of transmitting at least one of a representationalvideo communication, a reduced resolution video communication, an audiocommunication, and an abstract representational communication.
 10. Avariable bandwidth communication system as recited in claim 7 whereinsaid second bandwidth is capable of transmitting audio communications.11. A variable bandwidth communication system as recited in claim 10wherein said first bandwidth is capable of transmitting at least one ofa degraded audio communication, a haptic communication, and an abstractrepresentational communication.
 12. A method for variable bandwidthcommunications comprising: selectively and continuously transmittingcommunications from a first communication station at one of a firstbandwidth and a second bandwidth, where said second bandwidth is greaterthan said first bandwidth, and continuously receiving communications atone of a third bandwidth and a fourth bandwidth, where said fourthbandwidth is greater than said third bandwidth; and selectively andcontinuously transmitting communications from a second communicationstation at one of said third bandwidth and said fourth bandwidth, andcontinuously receiving communications at one of said first bandwidth anda second bandwidth.
 13. A method for variable bandwidth communicationsas recited in claim 12 wherein said first bandwidth and said thirdbandwidth are about the same, and wherein said second bandwidth and saidfourth bandwidth are about the same.
 14. A method for variable bandwidthcommunications as recited in claim 13 wherein said second bandwidth isat least two orders of magnitude greater than said first bandwidth. 15.A method for variable bandwidth communications as recited in claim 14further comprising selectively converting communications received bysaid first communication system at said fourth bandwidth to a firstlower bandwidth display level.
 16. A method for variable bandwidthcommunications as recited in claim 15 wherein said lower bandwidthdisplay level is at about said third bandwidth.
 17. A method forvariable bandwidth communications as recited in claim 16 furthercomprising selectively converting communications received by said secondcommunication system at said second bandwidth to a first lower bandwidthdisplay level.
 18. A method for variable bandwidth communications asrecited in claim 17 wherein said second lower bandwidth display level isat about said first bandwidth.
 19. A method for variable bandwidthcommunications as recited in claim 18 wherein said second bandwidth iscapable of transmitting video communications.
 20. A method for variablebandwidth communications as recited in claim 19 wherein said firstbandwidth is capable of transmitting at least one of a representationalvideo communication, a reduced resolution video communication, an audiocommunication, and an abstract representational communication.
 21. Amethod for variable bandwidth communications as recited in claim 18wherein said second bandwidth is capable of transmitting audiocommunications.
 22. A method for variable bandwidth communications asrecited in claim 21 wherein said first bandwidth is capable oftransmitting at least one of a degraded audio communication, a hapticcommunication, and an abstract representational communication.